Semiconductor components of the type mentioned in the introduction are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,978,401 and Kosaka et al., “Pixels Consisting of a Single Vertical-Cavity Laser Thyristor and a Double Vertical-Cavity Phototransistor”, 1993 IEEE 1409-1411. The construction of the semiconductor layers for the radiation-emitting-and-receiving part of the semiconductor component described hereinbelow is essentially identical in that case.
In optical sensor technology applications with changing ambient light or with different light sources, emitter and receiver usually lie spatially close together. For such applications, it is desirable to mount different components (e.g. optics, lens filters, amplifiers) beside the emitter and receiver in a very confined space. Often, the emitter, receiver and other components are in each case constructed one beside the other as separate components in separate constructional forms, adjusted with respect to one another and driven separately.